Wentworth Books

A brand new book is being published this month by a local author. His name is Martyn Johnson and the title is,

‘What’s Tha Up To?’ Memories of an Attercliffe Bobby

Whats Tha Up to? Is the autobiography of an ordinary South Yorkshire working bobby. Brought to life in the mood of a working-class area in a vibrant Northern city.

Martyn patrolled the often unprepossessing streets of the East End of Sheffield when a health and safety risk assessment meant checking your shoelaces before setting out on patrol. Counselling consisted of talking to your mates over a pint after work, and the height of technology was having a torch that worked!

What Martyn Johnson has done, through personal reminiscence, is touch upon many incidents and events, routine and exceptional, funny and sad, which may well have happened to any bobby on the beat in Sheffield during the sixties and early seventies.

Martyn Johnson was born in Darfield, Barnsley. Passionate about local history, Martyn is well known for metal detecting and has appeared on many BBC Radio Sheffield programmes talking about his hobby. A long time resident of Wentworth village, he also assisted and advised Catherine Bailey when she was researching her best-selling book, Black Diamonds.

Our reviewer writes:- "This is an excellent highly readable book taking in the early years of the author’s police career. As well as providing a fascinating insight into the working methods of the force in what now seems like another age, it is full of personal anecdotes written with a sense of great warmth and nostalgia. Mr. Johnson is now based in Wentworth and brings more up to date village life into a number of his tales. All in all this is an excellent collection and I hope that the author is encouraged by its success to bring us more reminiscences of his later years. "

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on Thursday, May 6th, 2010 at 1:11 pm and is filed under History.
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